Can nurses support women who have been psychologically abused?

The Scottish Government has recently approved the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill, which is being hailed by many as a landmark in addressing domestic violence. The Bill creates a specific offence of ''abusive behaviour towards a partner or ex-partner'', including psychological abuse - such as coercive and controlling behaviour.

Bradbury-Jones and Clark (2016) argue that nurses need to 'use every interaction with patients to detect domestic violence and abuse'. However in a more recent study, Bradbury-Jones, Clark and Taylor (2017) reported that, although nurses play a key role in responding to domestic abuse, their responses were often inappropriate or unhelpful. Including: trivialising or ignoring the abuse; ineffectively responding due to a lack of time, privacy or confidence; being frightened of offending women; or as a consequences of their own experience of being abused.